Qualified praise for Cardoza’s move to Washington
To get the qualifications out of the way, we don’t like many of the political positions taken by Rep. Dennis Cardoza, Shrimp Slayer-Merced. His record on environmental law has been a disgusting sellout to finance, insurance and real estate special interests in his district and his stint as the rear end of the Pomboza (head having been Rep. Richard Pombo, Buffalo Slayer-Tracy) was disgraceful. Nor do we imagine those positions are likely to change.
Having said that, we can very well understand why a California congressman, any California congressman, would move his family to Washington, DC. There have been examples in Valley political lore – Harlen Hagen, John McFall and Tony Coelho come to mind – in which the congressman lost touch with the district, got too involved with Beltway corruption and fell from power. If memory serves, something similar happened to Jeffrey Cohelan of Oakland, defeated by Ron Dellums. John Burton got all screwed up in Washington and lost his seat. Phil Burton managed to keep the schedule and rise to Majority Whip, but none of the above could match Phil Burton for discipline, energy and intelligence – least of all Cardoza.
But it must be terribly hard to keep a family together under the circumstances of being a California congressman and rather than bash him for his move, we give him this qualified praise. Anyone trying to keep his family together these days deserves it.
He seems to have pulled a few strings with cronies in Maryland politics, like Rep. Steney Hoyer, his old mentor, and with the University of Maryland, his alma mater, to get his wife a decent medical job. Don’t people often ask congressmen to pull strings for them? Isn’t that one of the major functions of a congressman?
Presumably, Cardoza will return to his district less often and become more engaged with inner-Beltway work like his new position with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, revolutionized by Coelho before his fall, described in Brooks Jackson’s Honest Graft. But, as far as contact with his district is concerned, Cardoza was never much good at it anyway. His “townhall” meetings were absurd and he never has listened to much more than a handful of local plutocrats anyway. They’ll still have his cell phone number. This way, the public may be spared a dose or two of his bathetic vision.
It might be a public benefit if Cardoza showed up less often at his Merced offices on the third floor of the County administration building. Perhaps with less interference from the congressman, local administrators and elected officials could do a somewhat better job. At least this move opens the hope.
Of course, the media has been critical: they stand to lose a little direct access. However, those who have had direct access to Cardoza should reflect that it wasn’t much help, really. When Cardoza talks about politics, it is as boring as listening to a bull rider take 10 minutes to describe the six seconds he was on top.
The hot stuff is in the speculation about what will happen now. But, we don’t know the future. What we know is a congressman seems to be making an attempt to keep a family together, be a less absent husband and father. You can’t knock him for that. Perhaps he didn’t want his children to grow up with asthma, induced by the development he championed. So let him join the Cowgirl Chancellor Carol Tomlinson Keasey and all the rest of the fleeing rodents. Some people are simply too sensitive to deal with consequences. It’s a character thing.
Badlands editorial board
P.S. A St. Patrick Day's reflection on character -- One of North America's greatest 20th-century leaders, Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas, once told a biographer, as he was embarking from the Capitol on yet another 1,000-mile trip in his Willys Jeep to meet with rebellious citizens, that there was rarely anything he could do for his people in the post-Revolution economy, but he could at least be with them and try to encourage them. For Cardoza to keep his residence address in Merced County as a political convenience after holding a couple of "foreclosure workshops," sends the message to the residents of the district that, having been a political leader in the real estate boom and environmental destruction, he is unwilling to take the consequences of his actions that most of his constituents are helpless to avoid.
Whining for a medical school for UC Merced because the Valley has a physician shortage, he takes the one doctor -- his wife -- he might have been able to influence to stay in the Valley to a job in Maryland.
While we still praise him for trying to keep his family together and safe from the social and environmental fallout of the real estate boom and bust and environmental destruction he had so much to do with engineering on behalf of finance, insurance and real estate interests in various backrooms, starting with UC Merced, we don't think it is unfair to call the man a triple-dyed hypocrite.
When in the coming months top officials in county and city government retire, collect their pensions and whatever else they made on the boom and move away, we can add a new phrase to the local political lexicon: "Pulling a Cardoza."
Pulling Cardozas are certainly signs of the times. Another, which we saw yesterday afternoon, was a homeless person with baby stroller and earthly possessions camped in the alcove of the M Street entrance to the splendid offices once occupied by Ranchwood Homes, now up for lease, across from the courthouse park.